I've moved...

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T-shirt Reno

Well, because of the Toronto Craft Alert's The Crafty Slacker’s Get ‘Er Done Giveaway I've actually finished something that has been sitting torn apart in my cupboard for quite some time now. I initially wanted to finish my knitting needle cases that have been there for over a year now but I've lost the pocket fabric (that has already been so). I'm not quite sure how that is possible considering I don't own much fabric and my room is not that big. Go figure. (Let's note how I knew about the contest weeks ago and didn't bother to start until tonight. The day entries are due.)

In any case, I repurposed one of my (three!) Club Monaco men's t-shirts I bought nine years ago at an outlet sale. I found the pieces all mixed up in my cupboard and I can't remember what I was initially going for ... about a year ago.

So I fudged it. I cut around the neckline, cut off the sleeves, gathered the shoulders with ties, took in the sides a bit, cut right down the back and made a v-shape, sewed up the bottom of the back, and then wore it backwards. That with a belt ain't so bad for a t-shirt I never wear anymore. I may wear it once in a blue moon. My sewing machine decided to drive me nuts today so it's not as neat as it could be. Ah well. Here it is.

Thank you TCA for pushing me to get one of many of my projects done. :)

If you're interested, there's less than two hours to enter in the contest lol.

The Past Year of Knitting

I realize I don't update here anymore but that's cause I'm always on Ravelry and just write descriptions of things on there.

But I like blogs. Ek.

Itchy itchy eye!

When I bought this blue yarn on Labour Day weekend I remember rubbing it against my neck. It wasn't so bad. Not rough. Not heavenly smooth but not rough. As I worked on this scarf I would put it around my neck to see how much longer I wanted to make it. Each time I thought it was a bit rough but I brushed it aside. Now as I wrap it around my neck I can not imagine giving away something so itchy or wearing something so itchy. I'm thinking about sewing some sort of fabric - silk? fleece? something non-itchy? - to the "back" of where one would naturally wrap it around their neck. I mean, it's not like she's going to wear it any other way, right? Hum.

I don't think I have enough yarn for a fringe but I don't think I want a fringe either. My only issue is that she wanted mittens and I wonder if it will look weird if I use a different type of yarn - but still blue - to knit those for her. Hum.

Add-on: I'm getting used to the itch. It's not so bad. But still.

I need to update this more

So I have a master list of what I'm going to do with all the yarn in my (small, I swear) stash. In about 10 minutes I should be done a scarf for Vidya and I'm going to have to find an appropriate gloves/mittens/armwarmer combo pattern because I've got some pink worsted that needs to turn into something to keep my hands warm. I am seriously so cold lately. And I'm going to need another subway/bus knit. Problem is that I can't decide between mittens or fingerless gloves. I don't really feel like knitting gloves. I was thinking of the combo - y'know with the flap but I'm still undecided. What to doooo what to doooo.

Note how I should be working on two articles right now, putting together broadcast ideas and doing some Spanish review. Oh knitting how you distract me so.

Good news! & a tired knitting rant.

Okay, so it really has been a month and a half. I have no idea how that happened. Really. I think knit-blogging just made me feel guilty if I didn't have proper progress to report on.

So remember how Van wanted legwarmers way back in May and I only finished the first one sometime last week or the week before? Well I started the second pair yesterday and finished today. Uhhh who knows how that happens! I guess we must thank Bollywood for this one - for giving me the time in which to work on it. I have to admit though, I was racing to finish it on the way back from Ottawa and I got soooo naseous. Seriously. I really needed to slow down.

Also, this past weekend my family and I took a trip to random parts of NY and then Ottawa (as noted before). Outside of our hotel in the town of Canton there just happened to be THE MOST AMAZING YARN SHOP EVER. "Linsie Woolsie". Anyhow, going there really made my day. Slash weekend. Slash week. lol It just so happened that they had just opened for a sale - and btw they never usually open on Sundays - and almost everything was 40%+ off. I must add that their regular prices of yarn are already SO MUCH CHEAPER than ours. It is kind of ridiculous.

I bought two balls of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, one of this Sockotta Italian sock yarn and one skein of Lorna's Laces Revelation in this really soft earthy palette. Now here's the thing, I went in knowing that I had 40$ worth of gift money. At least, I knew my mom had it. My mom was like oh here's this sock book! You have to get it. So I thought okay, great. I want a book but damn that means I shouldn't buy anymore yarn. So despite wandering through the store and seeing sooooooo much more I wanted to pick up, I stopped because I figured I'd be dipping into my mom's money. She was like "are you sure you've got everything you want?" and i felt guilty - i didn't want to take advantage of my mom's niceness. So I didn't. Then when we were going to the car she tells me the book was from her! So I totally could have bought quite a few more balls of yarns. *cries*

Oh well. I will try not to think about this much but it's kinda killing me. I mean, the DB was like $3 something. You could NEVER get that for that price in Toronto. They had NORO for $5!!!! ... okay I really need to stop. My only problem is now whenever I want to buy nice yarn I won't be able to justify spending so much for it because I'll think about the small town of Canton and how affordable it is there. Frick.

So now that I'm done Van's legwarmers (they need to be blocked and ends woven in), I'm not sure what to do next. I have that shrug on the needles but I had made a fairly big mistake and going back several rows will cause me much pain. I hate going back when there are YO's. I also don't think I should take that one with me to school until I have it figured out. I have to rip out this blue scarf I was working on because it's wayyy too wide and I think it'll be too short otherwise. I want that scarf for myself (just like everything else I knit) but I'm feeling like I should give it as a gift to someone - as for who, I'm not sure. I do actually have to get the second pair of my socks done. I had done quite a few rows until it accidentally started rippin out on the bus and because there are too many awkward stitches to pick up I think it's easier to rip it all out and startover. This could be a pain but in honour of Socktoberfest I think I should do it. I also know that I'm supposed to sew up this camera case for someone but I kinda wanna just make another one cause I don't like that one. And I have to rip out this phone case that I had knitted because it's too small. Hmph. I also have some sock yarn that needs to be dyed soon so that I can get working on some of the lovely socks in the "Knitting on the Road" book my mom got me. Ahhh so much knitting. Might I add that my mom's birthday is next week and I have yet to get her anything - I want to knit her something but she doesn't wear chunky scarves or gloves or anything. She said she'd wear a thin scarf but the question is, do I have time to buy yarn for that (because none of the yarn in my stash will work for this - might I add this goes against her telling me not to buy more yarn till I use out what I have), find an appropriate pattern and knit it all by then? I don't really think so. What can I knit for her that's small and useful? :S Vid also wants black mittens for the winter. Oh which reminds me that I need to fix her case. OMG SO MUCH TO KNIT. SO LITTLE TIME.

Pictures of yarn and things to come.

Lillian Tank and wips wips wips

So last night I finally FINALLY decided to finish that Lillian Tank. Woooo.







Don't mind the dirty mirror and needing to shower photos - I was gonna wear it tonight when I was all dressed up but no lol.

Pattern: http://deliciousstitches.blogspot.com/2007/05/lillian-tank-top.html Lillian Tank by Delicious Stitches
Yarn: Three skeins of Lion Brand Cotton Ease - with some leftovers (headband, anyone?) - Cost me about $15 CDN
Needles: 24" US 6 Pony Circulars - The pattern calls for 16" but A) I didn't want to buy new needles and B) I don't think I could have comfortably fit all my stitches on there. lol

The Good:
- easy to follow pattern
- affordable yarn
- great worn on its own or with something underneath
- fast knit

The to-change-for-next-time:
- I think I might make it a tad bit shorter so that I can wear it on my jeans with pockets without having it stretch around it
- Might do the middle ribbing in a slightly smaller needle
- Experiment with other lace patterns - though I do love this one

Interesting notes:
- before I blocked this it had the most interesting ridge pattern. Not something that I'd wear because it looked like I had potatos in my shirt but still really cool look. I didn't even block this properly. Enh
- It's just a teeensy bit too big around the waist area in the back for me. Whatevs!

Favourite knit so far, I think!

P.S. I knit this about a month ago and didn't get the ribbing done in time for my trip to Florida so I put it away for a month cause I lost the motivation to finish it until last night.

And progress on my first pair of socks - photo taken Tuesday.